Yesterdays musings about folded hands into prayers sent me on a search this morning. The following are the three, of many, answers that resonated most deeply with me.
1. When I was a child I was told that we could whisper our deepest thoughts into our empty hands and they would follow to where our fingers were pointed - straight up to heaven.
2. Religious historians trace the gesture back to the act of shackling a prisoner’s hands with vine or rope: joined hands came to symbolize submission. In ancient Rome, a captured soldier could avoid immediate death by joining the hands together. Just as waving a white flag today, the message was clear. “I surrender",".
3. One hand represents the higher, spiritual nature, while the other represents the worldly self. By combining the two, the person making the gesture is attempting to rise above their differences with others, and connect themself to the person they bow to. The bow is a symbolic bow of love and respect.
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